On My iPad

Jan 25, 2012

Fraser Spiers, the god of iPad in Education, wrote a great post about the amazing apps out there on iOS and how he’s using his Mac less and less. I wouldn’t go so far as to say I’m using my Mac less, but his collection of iPad apps intrigues me. And my recent discovery/use of many apps seems to mirror Fraser’s:

Flipboard: I loaded Flipboard for the first time about 2 months ago after watching the Stanford CS193P lecture with the creators of it. It’s an amazing way to browse content from Facebook and Twitter. But more importantly, Flipboard curates great content that I would’ve never found.

Kindle: I’ve been reading more lately, and Kindle is the platform to read digital books on. The fact that I can read a book on my iPad, Kindle Keyboard (recently acquired - that’s another story), or Kindle Cloud Reader and keep everything in sync is awesome. I thought I would enjoy reading on the actual Kindle hardware more than I do, but I’ve found that the iPad is by far the best reader (in my situation)

Instapaper: I’ve been listening to Build & Analyze with Marco Arment for probably a year now, but I finally bought Instapaper a few months ago. I don’t use it as much as I should, and I’m well aware of this. Right now I am in the middle of reading Steve Jobs on the Kindle, though, so that’s taking most of my reading time.

OmniFocus: Everyone raves about OmniFocus. Is it really that good?

Dropbox: Fraser says his “life is in Dropbox”. I’m not there yet, but Dropbox has revolutionized the way I work, particularly with grad school work and iOS Development. I wish I had had Dropbox in college. If you don’t use Dropbox, you’re missing out.

iA Writer: Another app I hear/read about all the time. Might have to check it out.

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Apps on my home screen that Fraser didn’t mention:

Plants vs. Zombies: the greatest game ever made for iOS. It’ll be hard to beat.

500px: Awesome photographs.

FaceTime: Made Christmas morning special, being able to video chat with almost all of my family, even though we were all in different states. Yes, iChat can do the same, but the more mobile experience of the iPad made it so much better.

Mr. Reader: I should probably swap this out with Reeder, but Mr. Reader is good.

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Finally, here’s a screenshot of my iPad home screen. I am in the process of rearranging my apps, and I’m getting close. The use of Folders on the dock is a clever idea I stole from someone. Also, several of my home screen apps are there because I’m temporarily interested in them. Scribblenauts, Lync, and iTunes U are examples of that. (And yes, I need a new background. That one was great for the Christmas season.)